Ye Lord, Mask Of Flesh On Bone
by God-King-Moth
Summary: (Crossover universe with only Bleach characters.) Ichigo doesn't care about much of anything, apart from doing well in school and taking care of his baby sisters. In all ways he's average, normal, inconspicuous. Except for his hair... And the unnatural strength and urge to consume human flesh he suddenly can't get rid of.
1. Horror In Thy Gaze

;Hello I am back with more shit this time it's not even my fault it's grimmichiconfessions on tumblr's fault don't look at me.:

:WARNINGS- BLOOD, GORE, EXPLICIT VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN, CANNABALISM, HORROR THEMES.:

...

 _You've got more bones than a graveyard,_

 _There's more love in a dead man's arms..._

 _..._

 _There's more love in a dead man's arms..._

 _..._

He's stacking shelves when his phone buzzes; and he frowns even as he fishes it out of his pocket and checks the caller ID. His friends and family know not to ring him while he's working unless it's an emergency, and his heart thumps with a strangled kind of worry as he reads Karin's name.

"What's wrong?" He huffs over the line, tucking the phone between the arch of his cheek and his shoulder as he returns to stacking canned food.

"Ichi-nii, there's a ghoul." Her voice is scratchy and raw and he can hear commotion in the background, sirens. A voice over a megaphone, trying to organise students by their classes.

"Where's Yuzu. Is she with you on the grounds?" His spine stiffens, an unlucky can crumpling slightly in his grip.

"She's inside. She- she's inside with the ghoul, Ichigo what do I do- the police won't help no one is going in there to get the remaining students; some of class 4B came out with blood spatters and no teacher-" Her breath hitches and she starts to hyperventilate, sobbing audibly. "The cops are saying it's the one that's been on the news recently, they called him White Hollow? I don't know, it sounds like something stupid from- from a tv show or something-" Her weeping takes over her voice until it's unintelligible.

The can crumples into nothing but twisted metal, baked beans oozing from the blown out end and splattering onto the floor, speckling his shoes.

"Stay there. Stay there, Karin." He hangs up after she manages a weepy agreement, shoves the phone back into his pocket and hightails it out of the small grocer's immediately, not even pausing to remove his name tag as he sprints down the blocks towards his sister's school. His legs feel light, like he's not even moving them, a blur as he hurdles a fence with one arm, losing no momentum even as he takes the shortcut through the old oval. He can see the lights flashing at the front of the massive building, a throng of people huddled behind police barriers while they cordoned off the entrance. They're already spreading out to the side entrances, presumably in an attempt to cut the ghoul off from any escape. He hears a whisper of an 'incoming task force' from a man with a handheld radio (but that could be too late to save his sister, so he doesn't pause) before the policeman is screaming at him to stop. He doesn't listen, just tucks and rolls when he leaps into the closest ground floor window, rising to a crouch in the silent hall. Glass audibly slides off him, and he can feel blood dripping down his cheek, sharp points embedded in his shoulders. He can hear the fuss he's caused outside, but he doesn't care in the slightest. There's a monster hunting his sister and he's never been known to be reasonable when it comes to his baby siblings.  
It's eerily quiet, his chest fluttering as he catches his breath, fluorescent lighting doing nothing in the too-bright sunlight streaming through the windows. Absently he thinks that must be a waste of power.

Another part of him muses that it should be dark and cloudy and somber, befitting a horror story. He can smell the metallic aroma of blood from here. His stomach twists even as he moves forward on silent feet, peering around a corner. He moves faster the less he finds, cautiously peering into every classroom as he scouts the ground floor, before taking the stairs up. The smell of blood is stronger here; and he grimaces at the smeared trails along the floor.  
Incredulity washes over him, abrupt and staggering. He can't fight a _ghoul._ They're not human. They're nothing like the thugs he tussles with on a regular basis, too strong and too fast. The news shows them taking down men in swathes with strange red appendages til special forces are called in- the ones no reporter is allowed to film; but everyone knows they ' _take care'_ of ghouls.  
Yuzu's smile flashes through his mind and any hesitation bleeds out of him like water through a sieve; because he'd rather die fighting than do nothing. Karin would never forgive him, he'd never forgive himself.

He tilts his head when soft sobbing catches his ears; a wet tearing sound accompanying it. Goosebumps prickle along his arms as he edges towards the closest classroom, peering achingly slowly around the corner of the door. Hot bile rises in his throat and he fights the urge to gag as the man sinks teeth into the body of a little boy, face frozen in horror as Yuzu and another girl, (at least two grades below her, he thinks) whimper and tremble in the corner, watching with horrified fascination, unable to tear their eyes away. He pulls back around the corner, leans against the cool wall for a second, takes a deep breath.  
That's his baby sister in there. His baby sister.

He peers back around, tense and ready to grab the nearest chair and pounce- but the ghoul isn't there. Yuzu meets his eyes with terror in her tear streaked face. Fear latches along his spine, sweat beading at his temple as something snickers in his ear. Behind him.  
"Ooh a hero! A hero with such bright hair... _**what a silly hero...**_ " The voice is raspy and unused and the smell of rancid flesh is overpowering with every creaky breath the ghoul takes. Ichigo lashes out on automatic, hands flat on the ground as he goes for a low sweep. The ghoul jumps over it without the slightest change of bland facial expression, and fear pumps through him again even as he launches backwards to get some breathing room. He doesn't get it- the ghoul moves forward in a blur and it's all Ichigo can do to raise his arms and block the fists and lashing whip of serrated, pulsing red flesh he can't truly get a lock on the details of, and the adrenaline doesn't even begin to lessen the aching pain each blow causes, the sting and tear of the foreign appendage gouging at his arms, then at his legs and shoulders when he finally stumbles, giving out under the onslaught.

"You smell good, little hero!" The ghoul cackles softly, high pitched and morbidly gleeful; white hair falling in it's eyes, gold on black. Ichigo vaguely wonders why they aren't red on black, like other ghouls, when there's something putting pressure on his lungs and stomach.  
He looks down, blinks at the pulsating tail speared through his insides. It is kind of a tail, he thinks vaguely, because he can see that it comes from the base of the ghoul's spine when he looks up, bewildered.  
Yuzu screams his name from the doorway but he feels so fuzzy and far away from her. There's an awful slick noise and suddenly nothing is holding him up and he collapses to the floor, face down like a puppet with it's strings severed. The cackling starts again, distorted voice coming in and out of focus as Ichigo tries so hard to grasp at his own consciousness.

"ICHI-NII!" Yuzu screams again, and Ichigo's fingers twitch.

"Aww, poor little girl... don't worry. I'll eat you first. You won't have to watch me consume your darling brother. Pity he couldn't be a real hero, could he?" He can hear Yuzu thrashing in the ghoul's grip and the blood on the floor underneath him is sticky, congealing, seeping through his shirt and pants and into his skin, cold and clammy. His fingers dig at the smooth linoleum, fighting for purchase even as he struggles to feel his legs. He wonders if his spine has been severed.  
"Aah, looks like the silly boy is still going... better put him down for good. Watch carefully little girl!"

Yuzu screams again, a wordless wail that barely sounds human as something impacts directly through his chest, and his eyes go wide.

The scream echoes.

It echoes.

Yuzu chokes on air as the monster who killed her brother lifts her into the air by her throat, a wet noise interrupting her sobs as the appendage is wrenched from Ichigo's body, making it jerk and spasm briefly. It's speaking now, almost consideringly tilting it's head at her. "You're crying." It says, amused, and squeezes tighter. Her eyes fix on the bloodied form on the floor nearby, and Yuzu _hates_. Hates more than she's ever hated in her entire sweet existence, more hate than she even thought a human was capable of mustering. She wants her Ichi-nii to stand up and crush the monster like he drove away all her nightmares. Like he told off the older kids for bullying her when she first started school. She wants the blood to go away. She wants him to stand up.  
Yuzu Kurosaki wants and _hates_ and _loathes_ and desperately wishes, and the ghoul opens it's mouth, saliva bubbling up like poison as it leans in, rotting breath invading her senses. She looks away from her brother, towards wide white teeth, set in an equally white face and thinks this is her own fault for pausing to grab the younger girl when she'd fallen in the evacuation. It's a cruel thought, but protecting someone else has cost her Ichigo and her own life and-

Oh but that's what Ichigo did. He died to protect her, didn't he? He came from his job to try and save her. He tried to fight a ghoul though he knew he'd never match one physically. He'd be proud of her for protecting someone else.

Yuzu hates and loathes this monster and loves her brother and the swirling mixture of emotions makes her bare her teeth in defiant rage even as she cries.

The grip around her throat vanishes abruptly and she lands hard on her hands and knees with a cough, blinking rapidly in shock. She looks up as the ghoul hisses, white face turning an unpleasant shade of green.

"You should be dead. No human can-" it's cut off with a gurgle when a familiar hand wraps around the ghoul's throat and squeezes, awful crunching noises emanating from the pressure. She stares in awe, because not even Ichigo could do that, could he? To be so strong...

"You won't hurt her." Ichigo's voice is a raspy wheeze and she realises he's still bleeding heavily despite his sudden unnatural strength. The ghoul thrashes around, unable to breathe or reply, and then Ichigo's other hand comes up and plasters over the monster's face and part of it's scalp and squeezes, inexorable and unstoppable. The ghoul screams, high pitched warbles of agony until the bone cracks and creaks; then caves, and it's head resembles a crushed watermelon, Ichigo's hand holding the last messy pulp.

Yuzu finally, blissfully passes out, but not before seeing Ichigo raise his bloody fist to his mouth, eyes wild. Somehow, it doesn't bother her. Ichigo would never be a monster.

...

 _"Mama, I'm hungry. Tou-san said he's full, but I'm still hungry." Ichigo mumbles, standing up on the tips of his toes and gently tugging at his mother's apron, trying to be discreet as he whispers. His hand comes to rest on the side of the curve of his mother's stomach and she smiles at the automatic look of awe on his face at the touch to where his new sibling was forming._

 _"That's because you're growing, Ichigo. You'll be hungry and hungry til you stop." She hums, but he frowns instead of taking the answer as it is, tugs on the soft cloth again._

 _"But mama, I'm REALLY hungry. So hungry even seconds don't help. I just feel all puffed up and round and still hungry, like a tummy full of water instead of food." He pouts, and Masaki's cheer fades slightly. She turns from the dishes and bends down to kiss his forehead._

 _"I'm sorry, Ichigo. But you have to be strong for mama, and pretend you aren't hungry after you've eaten." She pulls back, looks him in the eye, and he stares up at red in black in his mother's pretty face. "Promise me you'll keep this hunger a secret." The little boy nods, and when he blinks Masaki's eyes are honey brown again, and she smiles widely. "Go play with tou-san while mama finishes the dishes."_

 _"But I can help!"_

 _"Maybe next time, sweetheart."_

...

The next time Yuzu wakes, she's cradled against her brother's chest, sticky with blood. His blood, she thinks, blinking wearily. The younger girl trails behind him, and Yuzu is relieved she escaped unharmed. Her memories are blurry and faint, and she doesn't fight when the paramedics take her away and usher Ichigo towards a different van. At some point Karin is there, holding her hand tight enough to bruise, but she doesn't mind. Her head hurts and she keeps falling asleep, but she knows she'll be fine because Ichi-nii saved her and Karin is here and they're both okay now.

Later in her hospital bed Urahara Kisuke slips a pill down her throat and her memories blur further, beyond recognition. She's asleep while he does this, and it hurts him to have to, but he promised a woman long ago that he'd keep her son safe, and Yuzu knows things now, things that she shouldn't have to live with. He's already been to see Ichigo, unconscious in the room across the hall, needing surgery to fix the damage done to his insides (and maybe one day Kisuke will regret pulling strings to acquire specific organs from specific 'donors' for the lung transplant the boy needed, but for now he's just glad Ichigo is alive). He sits down heavily, lets out a sigh as he watches the small girl breathe, calm and easy. This feels like the calm before a storm, and he doesn't know what to do about it. He knows Masaki would hate him, for amplifying the monster she put inside her son, but he has to _live._ It's like a bizarre anime, and he can't help chuckling to himself at the thought.


	2. And Blood Upon Thy FIngers

:Whoo i am unstoppable what the FUCK is UP my dudes im so pumped holy shit.:  
:Warnings! GORE, EXPLICIT BODY HORROR, CANNIBALISM, VERY DARK THEMES, SICKNESS, Mention of vomit and other gross bodily fluids, you have been warned. Featuring the greatest Shirosaki scene I have ever written.:

...

He achieves awareness choking, throat spasming around the tube inside it even as his hands dart up and pull, an unpleasant tugging sensation accompanying the removal as he coughs and heaves over the side of the bed, saliva dripping down his jaw. His stomach hurts, his eyes hurt, everything hurts as a nurse speaks from behind him, tugging him back to lay down on the bed. He can't really focus on her, too busy trying to register his surroundings and what exactly happened to him. He feels like even his bones are aching, muscles tense and weary and tired. How long has he been here? Where's Yuzu?

"About a week, Kurosaki-san. Your sister is fine- she's just been released, in fact. Please lie still while I check to see if you've ripped out your IV."

He settles slightly, her tone soothing in its normalcy, a familiar throwback to when he helped his father out with the clinic. No nonsense but placating all at once, what Isshin calls a 'perfect bedside manner' for unruly patients.  
It's not long until he's sitting upright and spooning jelly into his mouth, Yuzu and Karin perched on the end of the bed and chattering away at him, filling him in on all the things he missed.  
"Inoue dropped off a homework packet for you this morning, too." Karin hums, lens back on her hands. "She was super embarrassed and weird the whole time. Is she really that shy?" Ichigo shrugs in response, not really knowing what to say. He's not that close to her- she's Tatsuki's friend, not his exactly. They just move in the same circles. Still, he'll have to thank her the next time he sees her.

"School has started back up again for us too, nii-san." Yuzu murmurs. "I'm looking forward to... well, kind of going back to normal." Her gaze falls slightly and Karin's lips press into a thin line as she watches her twin.

Ichigo breaks the tension by leaning over and ruffling the blonde's hair with a smirk. "Don't want my genius sisters falling behind in grades!" Yuzu laughs while Karin mutters something uncomplimentary under her breath, Isshin leaning in around the doorframe.

"Aahhhh, my beautiful children! It makes daddy so happy to see you all getting along so well, and my gorgeous daughters caring for their invalid brot-HHGCK!" He's cut off as the empty jelly container impacts his face at speeds approaching Mach 20. He wails dramatically as Ichigo rolls his eyes, exchanging a fistbump with Karin who looks smug as all hell. He's always had a kindred spirit in her when it comes to their father.

"MY CHILDREN DON'T LOVE MEEEE~!" Isshin sobs, laying down in the hallway as a nurse awkwardly tries to calm him down.

"Sir, sir this is- this is a hospital- please calm down- SIR-"

"Well, you're obviously not too sick if you can hurt goat-face with a shitty little plastic cup." Karin remarks idly.

Yuzu shakes her head in despair.

...

He dreams of red, moving and writhing and pulsating like the guts of some great formless beast, thrashing in agony as it's heart peals out it's last desperate palpitations like church bells, lungs eking out scant puffs of air, suffocating in it's own misery. It thrills him, and he reaches out to brush fingers along slick walls, sticky and smooth in the way only open sores and wet flesh can be, the delicate insides of living creatures. It's cavernous and constricting all at once- he is both too big and too small to be contained inside it, elbows and knees pressing up against all the organs within it, and it's a hedonistic kind of ecstasy that fills him as he squirms, like an overexcited child, gleeful and full of too much energy. Like a starving man presented with a buffet he sinks pale fingers tipped with ragged nails into it, drags and claws and revels in the dying thing's pain as it shudders, presses the wet muscle into his mouth and chews with delight. His skin is pallid white, for a while, until it's covered in blood and other unsavoury bodily fluids, but instead of being disgusted by the filth he wallows in it, the slowly decaying corpse of his meal. The great creature is silent now, bloated and foul in death and moving underneath it's skin where he wriggles and reaches and claws, feeding more and more into his gaping mouth, the hunger only growing with each bite.  
Like larvae he squirms and eats and pushes at the confining skin and bone until it splits and he's freed in a great shower of mouldering gore and snapping ribs, the air cold and stale compared to the wet, safe warmth inside his prey. Bloody hands smooth over ripped, dead skin and entrails and he looks down, down at the tan skin and orange hair and blank face he just pulled himself free of, and suddenly he wants to go back inside where's it's safe and he can feel the laboured breathing and aching pulse again. He wails, shaking hands cupping the cheeks of his prey and smearing fluid over soft skin, tainting it further. The wail turns to an ear splitting scream.

He wakes still screaming, whole body tense and curved like a bowstring, every strand of muscle pulled taut. Sweat pools on his skin as he collapses, limp on his bed. His breath is ragged and fast, coming in short pants even as he hears his sisters stir in the next room. He scowls, angry at himself for waking them, angry at his mind for conjuring such morbid dreams. He sits up after a while, wipes his face on the back of his hand and grimaces at the tacky feeling, gets up on shaky legs and strips off the now damp bedsheets, soaked through with sweat. He pads out and down to the laundry, and no one stops him on the way, nor when he doles out the powder and sets the cycle.

The tiled wall is cool against his clammy skin and he leans back against it, sighing deeply as the washer whirs and spins it's load in rhythmic thumps. He's almost dozing when he senses his father stop in the doorway, languidly opening one eye to stare at the older man. "What's up, goat face?" He murmurs.

"Ah, I dearly want to make a joke about wet dreams, but to be serious, I'm getting quite worried. You haven't been sleeping well, and when you do sleep you wake us all with your screams." He motions at the washing machine, expression stern and worried. Ichigo is too tired to be shocked by the rare display of maturity, but he files it away to gawk at later.  
"Sorry, old man. I don't mean to bother you guys."  
"You know that's not what I meant."  
There's a long pause before Ichigo finds the energy to shrug. "I don't know what to tell you. It'll stop eventually I guess."  
Isshin seems to want to say something; and Ichigo's whole body aches in need of it, of a hug or a reassurance of some kind. _Take care of me,_ his mind pleads, quiet and childlike. _I'm scared, tou-san_.  
"Alright. See you in the morning, Ichigo."  
He's gone again, leaving him in the cool, dim laundry, and Ichigo clenches his fists in annoyance. He doesn't need that kind of validation. He's an adult, he can deal with his own problems. A moment of weakness doesn't change that. He grunts under his breath and turns to the linen cupboard, gathering fresh sheets and heading back upstairs to make his bed- and hopefully get some uninterrupted sleep in it.

His stomach snarls at him, a yawning hole of hunger, and he resolutely ignores it.

...

In the morning he's pale and sweating, and he's always had an appetite- ever since he was little but this- this is a strange kind of empty, a yawning, hollow pit in his stomach that Yuzu's cooking just isn't filling. It even tastes /bland/, today, but he blames it on his own poor state, feels like he's coming down with a cold even as he kisses her on the forehead and slips on his shoes to go to school. He nearly trips halfway out the door, catching himself on the frame before pulling it closed behind him. Goosebumps prickle along his arms even as sweat beads at his temples, and he feels fuzzy and lightheaded.

He breathes, takes a step. Another one. Another one.

After a while he's walking almost normally; attention focused unerringly on the pavement in front of him and his feet moving one step at a time, a quick pace towards his school. He clenches his fingers around the strap of his bag to an unheard beat, the edges of a headache pressing at the back of his eyes- it's going to be a bad day; obviously. But he's already missed a good week and a half of school- he can't afford to miss more, not really. Doesn't matter how smart you are if you're not there to _do_ the work.  
He takes the backstreets, avoiding the main road and the pulsing ache the noise of traffic causes, taking note of street signs absently on his way so he doesn't get lost.

The scent hits him all at once; a wave of pure heady deliciousness, like something out of a ghibli movie, what you'd imagine the gorgeous animation would taste like if it was real, or the steam that rises off his favourite dumplings when he and Yuzu used to make them together on his birthday. He turns with barely a thought, all his focus on finding the source of that mouthwatering smell, sating the gnawing hunger.

His pace quickens til he's flat out sprinting, rounding corners in tight turns and at one point kicking off a low wall to aid an abrupt u-turn when he goes the wrong way and the smell starts to fade. It's so strong now he can almost taste it, hand pressing to his mouth to make sure he's not drooling like a pig. He almost expects a family to be having a barbecue in their back yard or something.  
He does not expect the man in the alley. He definitely does not expect the other man crouched over him, wet ripping noises filling the silent air, mixing with Ichigo's panting breaths as he comes down from his mad dash. He blinks, confused, and the man looks over his shoulder with narrowed eyes.  
"Eh? What, you hungry? Haven't seen you around before. You new, kid? You'd be better off in some huge capital or something. Karakura isn't big enough for too many ghouls." He turns around and digs his fingers into the unmarried flesh of his victim's throat and gouges out a great chunk, holding it out in offering. "I'm not gonna turn away a kid as hungry as you. Come on, eat."

Ichigo swallows, eyes wide. Ghoul. He's-  
He's not a ghoul. Why is he so hungry? He shakes his head, takes a step back, speechless.  
The ghoul seems to misunderstand his apprehension, a look of near-fondness pulling at his expression. Ichigo thinks he's seen him around, maybe, a face in the crowd at the mall. "Don't worry kid. I really won't hurt you. I'm not that territorial, I swear." Ichigo's eyes are hurting again, that pulsing headache at the back of them, makes him want to dig them out with his own fingers. "Don't be shy, kid. The only one I'll bite is this guy." The man- the /ghoul/ jokes halfheartedly, and he thinks he's going to vomit, because he's still hungry and it still smells so, so good.

Then a flash of yellow catches his eye and he steps backwards, hands half raised in defence as a shiny boot comes down on the ghoul's head from an angle no one could have reached unless they'd jumped from one of the nearby rooftops, which would surely break their legs. Brain matter splashes out in a manner similar to a popped pimple, and the newcomer bares wide white teeth as he grinds his heel into the mess. "Gross. What a nasty loser, coming 'round my territory." Narrow eyes fix on Ichigo, who's somewhere between his usual reaction ofdefensive anger and utter horror, and the boy steps back again, fists raised.

"Woah woah kid, you really think you can beat one of the visored? That's just stupid." He scoffs, and his teeth are as straight as the cut of his blonde hair, smile wide and eerie. Ichigo doesn't trust him as far as he could throw him- which, admittedly, would be a decent distance. He isn't a slouch when it comes to fitness.

"You're hungry, right? Aren't you... what, one of those high schoolers? Figured we'd have run into each other before now if you've been here that long. What, your mummy hunt for you?" He leers mockingly, and hot anger burns up the teen's chest, teeth bared in defiance. "Don't talk about my mother. She's not- she's not a monster like you." He snarls.

"You mean like _us_." The man tsks, leans down and peels the arm off the original, and very dead human victim, tossed it at Ichigo's feet. "Whatever. You're obviously new, so I won't kill you for snooping around my territory. This time. Hurry up and eat."

Ichigo steps back, covers his mouth and nose. The man sneers, confused. "Eh? Just eat it!"

Ichigo shakes his head, anger replaced again with mixing hunger and disgust.  
His arm is wrenched from his face and bare flesh shoved into his mouth with enough pressure he can feel his teeth shift in his gums, and he chokes when fingers press the raw meat down his throat. The man steps back and wipes the saliva and blood off on his pants with a disgusted expression. "Ew... ew ew ew. I did not picture my day going like this. Can't believe I'm force feeding a baby ghoul."  
Ichigo turns and forces himself to heave, bile splashing on asphalt as the meat leaves his stomach as soon as it hits it (and for a blessed moment he wasn't quite as hungry), and he hears something that sounds vaguely like 'stubborn brat' before something hits his head and everything goes black.

...


	3. Coven Of Bleeders

:Hey I am alive (unfortunately, I know ya'll would love it if I expired and stopped churning out trash) and I'm... a year older... I guess... Gross. Anyway, enjoy; sorry it's so short, I hope the plethora of piano teeth mcfuckface makes up for it!:

...

"Shinji what the actual _fuck_ is wrong with you?!" Someone screeches above him and he forces himself not to react, instead trying to ascertain his surroundings even as he registers the soft surface underneath him and the overpowering headache he's been so kindly blessed with.

"Oi- oi! Hiyori stop with the- fuck-"

"I'm going to beat the shit out of you! What were you thinking?! 'Oh, I'll just knock out and kidnap the high school ghoul on a _school day_ when people will _miss him_!"

"Wait, you're not mad about me bringing him here; just that he's going to be missed?"

"You pick up strays all the time I'm not fucking surprised you've grabbed another one. But you gotta pick your fucking targets better!"

Ichigo cracks open an eye to see a short blonde girl beating the shit out of the creepy piano man with a sandal- it's a truly hilarious sight. He figures they aren't going to hurt him, (and if they are what the hell can he do to stop them) so he sits up with a huff, groaning as his back cracks.

"I'm on her side. You're an idiot. I'm missing classes because of you, asshole. Think you could hit him in the face a few times for me?"

"Sure! It'll be my pleasure!"

The girl- Hiyori- bares her teeth and takes up her sandal in a stance reminiscent of an angry cat as she launches herself at Shinji once again. Ichigo ignores his cries for help; instead looking for an easy exit.

The ceiling is very, very far away. For a moment he thinks he's got a concussion before he ascertains it's a huge warehouse, and he slips off the slightly dilapidated couch and grabs his messenger bag, sneaking away from the quarrelling ghouls.  
At least, he assumes Hiyori is also a ghoul, given the fact she's half his size and still managed to throw Shinji halfway across the room.  
He turns back to the doorway that is his goal and slams face first into someone's chest; yelping and stumbling back.

"Gods, this is just not my day-" He interrupts himself with a rather embarrassingly high pitched squeak as he's picked up by the back of his shirt, an exceedingly tall and grumpy looking man with short white hair and what looks like a hunting knife strapped to his thigh eyeing him with distaste.

"Shinji! What did we say about picking up brats?! We have enough mouths to feed!"

"Uh, actually I am not interested in anything you guys would eat, in fact I'd very much like to go to school and forget this whole encounter-"

Ichigo scowls as he's ignored, kicking his feet slightly as he dangles. The two blondes across the room have stopped their fighting in order to snap at each other and the tall army looking dude, and Ichigo rolls his eyes.  
Maybe this is just a feverish hallucination, and he's actually passed out on the side walk. There's no way some piano man shoved human flesh down his throat (and he liked it) or that he even saw a ghoul. They're super rare; it's impossible. Once in a lifetime is certainly enough.  
Something taps his ankle and he looks down into the eyes of a green haired child.

"Hey uh, ginger! Why's Kensei holdin' you like that, huh?" She chirps, craning her neck to look him in the face.

"I don't know, ask him. And my name is Ichigo."

"Ooh, okay strawberry!"

"Wait- no that's not-"

"Kensei! You should put the berry down now! He looks _super_ grumpy!"

Ichigo splutters. "My name doesn't mean that-!"

'Kensei' drops him without warning and he yelps as he lands on his feet, arms spread for balance. He turns and delivers his best glare upon all four of the weirdos in front of him.

"I am leaving this hallucination now. I need to go to school, take some aspirin, and hand in my homework."

Shinji snorts, eyes narrowing.

"This isn't a hallucination. Do I need to feed ya again to remind you?"

Ichigo blanches in disgust. "No, thank you. I'm not a ghoul. I'm most certainly not hungry for anything you would want to feed me." He takes a step back.  
The little girl huffs in amusement, poking him in the ribs.

"Oh, but how do you know you're NOT a ghoul if you don't try it, huh? Do you have amnesia? Ghouls are born like this, silly! You've always been a ghoul."

"I'm really not; I like dumplings and curry, thank you." He hisses slightly, panic starting to register in the back of his mind. Because if this is really actually real and not a fever dream he is trapped in a warehouse with four ghouls; possibly more, depending on what's in those other rooms.  
And he doesn't like his chances fighting them all.

"Oh? Looks like you're starting to get it, kid. Look, you're obviously pretty damn bad at hunting 'n shit, and we're a pretty damn messy ragtag group, so how's about you join us? We can teach you how to fight, at least, because you obviously have no idea of your capabilities as a ghoul."

"I-no. I'm not- I won't kill people. I'm not eating people." He hisses, and Shinji rolls his eyes. Even Kensei is looking sympathetic, now.

"Oh stop whinin' kid. You've got your lot in life. You feel weak and dizzy, yeah? Food makes you sick but you're so hungry it aches."

"No, seriously, I've never eaten a human before, never even wanted to."

They pause, look at him considering. Kensei grunts, looks sideways at Shinji.

"Aizen?"

"No way." The lanky blonde mutters. "We were an isolated incident. He's been gone for years."

Ichigo's brain to mouth filter betrays him once more. "Isn't Aizen that semi famous doctor from a few decades back? My dad worked with him in the hospital for a while."

Hiyori swears. "Well, there's the access point. Through the parents..."

"Why now though?" Kensei murmurs, and Mashiro looks very uncomfortable with the entire conversation. Props to her, Ichigo thinks, bitch me too, the fuck.

"Okay, strawberry, not _all_ ghouls are born..." Shinji hesitates at the sheer force of the glare Ichigo is directing at him.

"My name. Is. _Ichigo_."

"... Right okay Ichigo-" (in the background, Hiyori snickers and calls Shinji a pussy under her breath) "- not all ghouls are born. Aizen... god how do I explain this-"

"Aizen did research for the ghoul suppression forces; fondly nicknamed the Shinigami, and at some point turned traitor and took the captains and lieutenants of several sections of the force and turned them into ghouls by implanting ghoul organs into them. Of us all, only Mashiro can still eat human food with no repercussions."

Ichigo blinks across the warehouse at the woman draped over one of the tilted couches- how he hadn't noticed her he's not sure, but she doesn't even bother looking up from her manga, glasses perched at the end of her nose.

"... right. Thanks, Lisa." Shinji scratches at his neck with a sheepish grin, and Ichigo is vaguely aware of Kensei leaving the room in disinterest, while Mashiro bounces over to Hiyori and sparks a... strangely heated conversation about... a tv show?  
His headache is only getting worse by the second.

"Look, ok, but like, this is the kind of shit that happens in like. _Anime_ , not real life. This isn't- how would he even have-"

"I don't have all the answers, but you smell like a ghoul, you crave like a ghoul- don't try to lie about it- there's no way you're just human anymore. For what it's worth... I'm sorry." Shinny genuinely looks contrite, at the least, and Ichigo takes a breath.

"I need to go to school. I... I guess I'll be back to... learn, and... eat." He grimaces, turns on his heel and heads for one of the doorways.  
He briefly contemplates calling the police as he steps outside the warehouse- but if he's really a ghoul there's no telling what kind of treatment he'll get in turn- the thought of leaving his sisters behind turns his stomach sour; much like the thought of killing someone so he doesn't starve.

Ichigo doesn't go to school that day.

...

:In other news Kensei auto corrected to Kendrick and now all I can see is him in one of Kendrick Lamar's music videos with his permanent bitch face and I. Live.:


End file.
